Kyle laid in his bed, unable to shake the feeling that something was off today. It had been the first time Gloria hadn’t stopped by to whisk him away for one of her many, many experimentations. Upon concluding that thinking about it was a waste of his time, he finally returned to his training.

Closing his eyes, he began by perceiving the surrounding mana, a level of precision that would have taken mages decades to master. He could feel the mana within the people in the room. He could feel it in the air, the walls, and even the very mattress he laid upon. Mana was everywhere, and he could feel it in everything.

He gathered the mana within his immediate vicinity, guiding it towards him so that it could be absorbed into his pool. A crisp and eerie sensation overtook him as the mana crawled through his veins and reached his core in an instant. Where many mages would take their time to gradually assimilate the foreign mana into their pool, Kyle favored a far more brutish approach. Like a raging river, the mana bombarded his core over and over and over again. Each attempt stronger and more ferocious than the last. But like an unshakable mountain, his core still stood.

Shattering the core, no matter how barbaric it may seem, was the most effective way to expand the mana pool within it. Assimilation only increased the pool’s density while shattering increased both the pool’s density and the core’s capacity. There was a downside to this method, for there was no such thing as an effortless win. Shattering the core would only reinforce it and increase the difficulty of all following attempts. Considering that Kyle had shattered it twice, it would take him far longer and with a lot more effort to shatter it a third time.

Now, while Kyle was too focused on his training, Elizabeth and Kevin were too busy playing.

“Do we have a diagnosis?” She asked her assistant.

“Paoke ponus.” Kevin returned, too young to form proper words.

“Is Sir Teddy suffering from broken toes?” After a few short seconds of silence, she received a slight nod from her younger sibling before turning to her ailing patient. “Interesting.”

Using her index to curl her raven hair as a way of showing that she was in deep thought, an action Kevin had tried to mimic but failed because his hair was too short, she spoke of what she believed to be the prognosis. “Sir Teddy, you suffer from a very rare curse known as eating bones.” No longer curling her raven hair, she used it to point at the bear’s toe, “It starts by eating the bones in your toes,” then raised it to tap the bear’s head “and goes all the way up to the bones in your head.”

“Healers are unable to expel curses.” She delivered the news with a solemn expression, bowing her head to the unfortunate teddy bear. “You have my sincerest apology.”

“ano a koo.”

“You know of a cure?!” She asked with a gaping mouth, surprised by the sudden turn of events.

The boy closed his eyes and raised his arms towards the sky and rather than question his action, Elizabeth imitated him instead, reaching for the sky in the hopes that she could maybe touch something magical. The sight of two cheerful and giggling children in coats sizes too big, playing their childish games would warm the hearts of many, but this had the opposite effect on Janet. If she had it her way, he would be as far away from her young lady as possible.

The twins were strange, and strange was never good. Janet was never one to believe in superstitions. Even when word of the ferocious demon had reached her ears, she chalked it up as one of those crazy paranoias that surrounded the scarlet eyes. But after days of watching the two and their interactions with her lady, she realized something. No children their age should possess this level of comprehension. And thus, she too became a victim of the paranoia.

She tried to reason with the young lady, but she adored Kevin too much, so it didn’t work. Trying to convince a four-year-old of a higher status was no easy feat. She voiced her complaints to the young master, hoping that he would see reason. It too didn’t work. Seeking to stop the daily time they played together was almost improbable, for even she knew not to defy the young master’s wishes. Left with little-to-no options, all she could do was nothing more than keep a valiant watch from a distance.

She glanced at the flask she held in hand, given to her by Gloria.

‘This here is a special meal I made specifically for young master Kevin. He may try to resist but it is of the utmost importance that he takes it, down to the very last drop.’

The contents within the flask contained the unnamed and extremely dangerous fruit that could only be found in Drenora, most commonly known as the monster continent. Very few wanderers had ventured deep into this dungeon and any unfortunate and foolish enough to take even the smallest bite of its fruit would, coincidently, have their bones devoured.

Unbeknownst to her, Janet had been looking forward to shoving the flask down the boy’s throat and the time had finally come.

She approached the unsuspecting Kevin, who was far too busy giggling alongside his sister. “Master Kevin, it’s time for your afternoon meal.” She said as she kneeled to show him the flask. Much to her disappointment, there was no reaction. There was no point if he didn’t resist. if she couldn’t keep her lady from him then she should at least be allowed to punish him.

As he reached for the flask, she subtly whispered in the hopes that he would understand her intent. “Madam Gloria made this especially for you.” And she was right. The boy froze, gradually taking a few steps backward. She stood up and took one small step to close the distance. He made a quick turn and ran at full speed, only to trip on his coat and crash into Elizabeth, who was still trying to reach for something magical.

How dare he hurt lady Elizabeth! Kevin, perhaps noticing the sudden change in the way she approached, hugged his sister Elizabeth.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Elizabeth yelled at her maid. “It’s obvious he doesn’t want it!”

“B-but…” Janet glanced between her lady and the boy, conflicted with what she should say. “He’s supposed to…”

“I don’t care! If he doesn’t want it then no one can give it to him!” She cried as hugged her younger brother back. “And if you try it again, I’m telling Jamey!” She raised Kevin to his feet, taking their leave as they walked past the conflicted maid. “Let’s go. From now on you’re going to eat like a big person, like me!”

With a sigh, Janet placed the flask in her storage ring. Her head now clear, she wondered where the anger came from. Shoving a flask down his throat? The very thought of it repulsed her. What was she thinking? She may have disliked the boy, but never would she have done anything to harm him. She stared at the siblings, then at the sleeping twin. Something strange was happening, and strange was never good.